If somebody tells you they’re disabled, you might expect them to be in a wheelchair, or to have some sort of physical impairment. That’s the picture of disability that society has conditioned us to bring to mind.

But what is unknown to many is that only a small percentage of people who are disabled would fit this label. The vast majority have an invisible disability.

According to ITV, 60 per cent of people underestimate the number of disabled people in Britain, a number which actually stands at 1 in 5 of us.

A lot has been done in recent years to raise awareness of invisible disability, whether it be through the Scope adverts on ITV or the ‘not every disability is visible stickers’ on accessible toilets in supermarkets. But as we mark invisible disabilities awareness week this week, it’s important we recognise there is still far to go, as I have experienced as someone living with an invisible disability myself.

I live with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, a chronic condition that is more than just tummy trouble. It drains you mentally and physically, as well as causing rapid weight gain and loss and other unpleasant symptoms.

Whether it’s being scowled at for using an accessible toilet, something that happened to me as recently as August, or someone using a blue badge bay that ‘doesn’t look disabled enough’, something that I’ve only heard about, it’s time society stopped judging a book by its cover and understands that we don’t have to justify our ‘disableness’ to others.

1 in 3 disabled people believe there is still a lot of disability prejudice in Britain today. Whether that be how difficult it is for wheelchair users to access our public transport or the disruption to accessibility services on Channel 4, it would be hard to say that in 2021 it’s a level playing field.